People can do better. Instead of making life difficult for each other, try helping each other out.
Maple Ridge resident Stacey Chomiak is trying to get that message out after her wife, Tammy, and kids were the recent targets of some verbal barbs.
Tammy was at a downtown Maple Ridge coffee shop when a stranger asked why she would bring her kids there. In her Facebook post, Stacey acknowledged the two kids were loud, but the comments were still upsetting.
“Friends, we can do better. We are all a little (lot) tired and sad and maybe just plain angry with the state of the world right now,” Stacey said on Facebook. “But we can do better.”
On another occasion, Tammy and the kids were in a thrift store, and she heard similar comments. One woman even asked her why she would bring the stroller and two kids into the store.
She’d told the women she was just taking her kids on an outing, Stacey said in her post, adding that going anywhere with small kids isn’t easy and criticism doesn’t help.
“I just think we don’t live alone in this world, and it’s not always going to be the most convenient or the most comfortable. If you make someone happy, then all of a sudden you feel happy, and then that spreads. Whereas, negativity also spreads really fast,” Stacey said.
“Sometimes, it only takes a mildly annoyed comment to plummet someone into depression, or just plain ruin the rest of their day. Don’t be the straw that breaks someone’s back. I refuse to be.”
READ MORE: Mounties help stranded mom whose truck stalled in middle of intersection
She suggested ways to do this could be smiling at others while waiting in line or passing people in the street, or just being encouraging and asking how they’re doing – because it makes a difference, she added.
